Weekly Report and Reflection #7: Collaborating doesn't have to be boring

Years ago in high school I remember when Mr. Torlée would assign groups in our environmental and resource management class. It was the first time in years that I had felt like could excel in such an exciting area of thought. The best thing about this class was sharing opinions and developing our own philosophy based on ethics and the reality of environmental issues. When he put us in groups we had the chance to collaborate, but the problem was that everyones understanding of collaboration was different. My friend Luke was open to trying anything, Sarah liked meeting in person and writing things in ink, and I liked to work on various computer programs. In 2010, I first explored Google Docs, and it blew my mind that my friends and I could all write and make changes to a single document... at the same time... in different locations...
Skip to four years later, I am still amazed by how Google is making changes to the program to be more user-friendly and has grown popular among my fellow students. When presenting, I like to have one less worry. By using Google Drive's cloud-based server, I am able to save my presentation on there and access it as a backup via the internet when my laptop is dead or not saved properly. Another part of Google Docs is the ability to chat to your work partners using their chat box. During my collaboration with MaryLynn I found it fascinating to be able to tell each other what we needed to do. Small user-friendly services like that make a huge difference to collaborators and helps avoid conflicts with the software and each other. As much as I do enjoy Google Docs, it isn't my first choice as a collaborating tool for work processing, spreadsheets, or presentations. It will be added into my PLE, but the more aesthetic and flowing iCloud, Apple-based program will remain my top pick due to me being an Apple fan (just like Fil!). 

Yee, N. (CC), 2014.
iCloud.com homepage.

I don't believe that tools in my PLE are meant to be removed and replaced. Instead I believe the are meant to accumulate and complement each other. Where one fails is where another succeeds. Where Google Docs doesn't allow complete continuity, Pages and iCloud does, vice versa. 
I'm really glad I had the opportunity to work with MaryLynn on Google Docs, because I believe it helped me in becoming a digital citizen. I major part of collaborating is making sure everyone that takes part is comfortable and doesn't feel judged or abused. I like to think that we maintained a good relationship that was very understanding of each others educational backgrounds. Being able to work together to produce a presentation that we were both pleased with reinforces that idea.

Michael Arts, Canada Centre for Inland Waters.
The water threatening species, Holopedium, under a microscope.

IFLScience wrote an article on the species, Holopedium, which is threatening out Great Lakes water. With chemical imbalances in nitrogen, oxygen, and calcium our water is becoming more unusable - further away from the so-called "freshwater". Due to coal-burning industrial processes, our air is becoming acidic, and is affecting our waters. This repeated cycle provides hard water and acid rain which breeds non-native species like the Holopedium. If nothing is done to stop these industrial processes, our water resource will not be redeemable.
Issues like these remind me of the things my twelfth grade class would discuss. Being able to discuss topics over Google Docs would have been great if every student had a background in software like that. The word processor is a perfect platform for brainstorming. Posting pictures like the one above, then the link to several resources would allow my other classmates to read up on everything I have, and unlike email they would all stay in the same place instead of being skewed through several messages. Doing so allows for greater customization and organization - a very important characteristic to me.